One of Elizabeth Street's newest businesses was the victim of a break and enter Friday, March 1.

Tailgate Mercantile was allegedly broken into by two males who took off with armfuls of sports merchandise.

The thieves broke in by smashing the front door with a hammer but they seemed to have been scared off by an alarm that sounded soon after they entered.

Robyn Alford, owner and operator of Tailgate, says the thieves seemed to know exactly which items to grab.

"From what I can tell, the front door was smashed in. It looks very intentional that whoever came in here was looking for particular things because they went straight for some of the merchandise I have including all of my NHL lacers which are quite expensive, so they clearly understood the value of what they were taking."

Tailgate Mercantile was opened in December of 2018, and is located right in the middle of Elizabeth street, meaning the theft occurred in a high traffic area.

Despite the theft, Alford has the store mostly up and running as usual.

"The plan was to close; we have to get the front door replaced obviously, but I still have customers wanting to come in. I had a fellow who drove all the way from Northwest Calgary today, and fortunately he wasn't looking for what went missing so I was able to help him out with what we have in store."

She says she's been able to stay in high spirits due in no small way to an outpouring of support from surrounding businesses and the community at large.

"I already feel like it's easier to find the humour in the situation and to not feel so anxious about it because I've already had a ton of people reaching out, coming over to see what's happened in the space as well as lots of messages on social media already because I did post that we had a break-in. I'm feeling very, very fortunate that we're a relatively new business but already getting huge support from the community."

Alford has turned over her surveillance footage to the local RCMP detachment, and is currently calculating the value of the stolen inventory.

RCMP will be releasing more information after all the evidence is gathered.

Anyone with information on the break-in is encouraged to contact local RCMP or CrimeStoppers.

 

 

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